Angels AL West Rival Could Make Late Push to Sign Blake Snell: Report

Angel fans won't like this report.

With less than two weeks until Opening Day in Major League Baseball, reigning National League Cy Young award winner Blake Snell remains a free agent.

With each passing day, it gets more and more unlikely that Snell will be ready to pitch come the beginning of the season.

The Angels have been heavily linked to Snell over the past few weeks, but to this point, nothing has come to fruition. And on Friday, The Athletic gave an update on the Snell saga that should have Angels fans nervous.

"Facing mounting questions about their depth, the Astros have remained engaged in the starting pitching market, multiple people with knowledge of the team’s plans told

The Athletic

this week. Given Crane’s already-stated affinity for Snell, it stands to reason he may emerge as the club’s top target."

Via The Athletic

On Thursday night, Astros general manager Dana Brown had this to say to The Athletic:

“As I’ve said multiple times, we always have our foot on the gas when it comes to winning and acquiring pitching,” Brown said. “As long as Snell is on the market, we check in to ask what is the latest. Nothing new as of now.”

Via The Athletic

Not getting Snell would be one thing for the Angels, but losing him to an AL West rival in the Houston Astros would be much harder for fans to swallow.

At this point, Snell is just waiting for someone to make him a good offer, and the Angels, a team without a true ace, seem like the most logical fit.

Of course, Snell won't be cheap, but Angels owner Arte Moreno just saved a lot of money by allowing Shohei Ohtani to go to the Dodgers without even matching the 10-year, $700 million offer he got.

So, if he wanted to at least replace half of Ohtani in the rotation, Snell is right there for the taking.

Update: Ken Rosenthal and Chandler Rome of The Athletic have added another report saying the Astros are "engaged in a serious pursuit of left-hander Blake Snell."